A
new religious movement (NRM) is a
faith-based community, or ethical,
spiritual, or philosophical group of recent origin. NRMs may be
novel in origin or they may be part of a wider religion, such as
Christianity, in which case they will
be distinct from pre-existing
denomination. Scholars studying the
sociology of religion have
almost unanimously adopted this term as a neutral alternative to
the word "
cult". They continue to try to reach
agreement on definitions and boundaries.
An NRM may be one of a wide range of movements ranging from those
with loose affiliations based on novel approaches to
spirituality or
religion to
communitarian enterprises that demand a
considerable amount of group conformity and a social identity that
separates their adherents from
mainstream society. Use of the term is not
universally accepted among the groups to which it is applied. NRMs
do not necessarily share a set of particular attributes, but have
been "assigned to the fringe of the dominant religious culture",
and "exist in a relatively contested space within society as a
whole".
Terminology
The study
of New Religions emerged in Japan
after an
increase in religious innovation following the Second World War. "New religions" is a
translation of
shinshūkyō, which Japanese
sociologists coined to refer to this phenomenon. This term, amongst
others, was adopted by Western scholars as an alternative to
cult. Cult had emerged in the 1890s,
but by the 1970s it had acquired a pejorative connotation, and was
subsequently used indiscriminately by lay critics to disparage
groups whose doctrines they opposed. Consequently, scholars such as
Eileen Barker,
J. T. Richardson, T. Miller and C.
Wessinger argued that the term "cult" had become too laden with
negative connotations, and "advocated dropping its use in
academia." Instead, especially in the sociology of religion, (but
also in religious studies), scholars use "new religious movement".
Some still use the term "cult" for groups they believe to be
extremely manipulative and exploitative.
A number of alternatives to the term
new religious
movement are used by some scholars. These include:
alternative religious movements, (Miller)
emergent
religions, (Ellwood) and
marginal religious movements
(Harper and Le Beau).
Definitions
Although there is no one criterion or set of criteria for
describing a group as a "new religious movement," use of the term
usually requires that the group be both
of recent origin
and
different from existing religions. Debate surrounds
the phrase "of recent origin": some authors use
World War II as the dividing line after which
anything is "new", whereas others define as "new" everything after
the advent of the
Bahá'í
Faith (mid-19th century). Some scholars also have a more
restricted approach to what counts as "different from existing
religions". For them, "difference" applies to a faith that, though
it may be seen as part of an existing religion, meets with
rejection from that religion for not sharing the same basic creed
or declares itself either separate from the existing religion or
even "the only right" faith. Other scholars expand their
measurement of difference, considering religious movements new
when, taken from their traditional cultural context, they appear in
new places, perhaps in modified forms. Examples of these kinds of
"new movements" would be the
Western
importation and establishment of
Hindu or
Buddhist groups.
NRMs vary in terms of leadership; authority; concepts of the
individual, family, and gender; teachings; organizational
structures; etc. These variations have presented a challenge to
social scientists in their attempts to formulate a comprehensive
and clear set of criteria for classifying NRMs.
Generally, Christian denominations that are an accepted part of
mainstream Christianity are not seen as new religious movements;
nevertheless,
The Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,
Jehovah's Witnesses, post-
Vatican II Roman Catholicism,
Christian Scientists, and
Shakers have been studied as NRMs. Evangelicals
usually consider these groups to be cults because of believing
their theologies to be unconducive or preventive of salvation
according to the teachings of the
Bible. There
are also examples of groups such as the
Seventh-day Adventist Church
and even
tent revivalists being
characterized as cults, generally by other evangelicals who are
hostile to their proselytizing efforts. Certain other groups, like
Falun Gong, do not define themselves as
religions but are nevertheless labelled as NRMs by many
scholars.
Examples
NRMs are diverse in their beliefs, practices, organization, and
societal acceptance. Irving Hexham and Karla Poewe have
consequently proposed that there are NRMs, particularly those who
have gained adherents in a number of nations, which can be
understood as forming global sub-cultures.
In general, the number of people who have affiliated with NRMs
worldwide is small when compared to major world religions.
However,
the diversity of NRMs has seen the emergence of different groups in
Africa, Japan, and
Melanesia.In Africa, David Barrett
has documented the emergence of 6,000 new indigenous churches since
the late 1960s. In Japan a number of NRMs based on revitalised
Shinto belief, as well as neo-Buddhist and
New Age groups, have emerged, some of which
originated in the late Nineteenth century in the
Meiji Era and others in the aftermath of World
War Two.
Around
twenty-five percent of the world's distinct cultures are found in
Melanesia, spanning the island nations from Papua New
Guinea
, the Solomon Islands
, Vanuatu
and Fiji
. It
was here that the phenomena of
Cargo
Cults were first discerned by
anthropologists and religious studies scholars.
The Cargo Cults are interpreted as indigenous NRMs that have arisen
in response to colonial and post-colonial cultural changes,
including the influx of
modernisation
and
capitalist consumerism.
At the time of their foundation, the religious traditions
considered "established" or "mainstream" today were seen as new
religious movements. For example,
Christianity was opposed by people within
Judaism and within the
Roman culture as sacrilege toward existing
doctrines. Likewise,
Protestant
Christianity was originally seen—and is still considered by
some today—as a new religious movement or breakaway
development.
In similar fashion , some of the contemporary naturalistic
religions (
naturalism) have
evolved out of traditional Christianity and Judaism via
process theology or using the term ‘God’ as
a
metaphor. Others have emerged via a
dominating
scientific perspective or by
atheistic rebellion to the established
beliefs of their culture. Still others have added a religious
ingredient to their humanistic thinking. Most of these see the
ritual/spiritual aspects of religious practice as necessary for
broad adoption by many people. Examples are
Religious Naturalism,
Scientific Pantheism,
Religious Humanism and some liberal
Unitarians,
Quakers,
Rastafarians
and
Jews.
Joining
According to Marc Gallanter, typical reasons why people join
"cults" include a search for community and a spiritual quest.
Rodney Stark and William Bainbridge, in
discussing the process by which individuals join new religious
groups, have even questioned the utility of the concept of
conversion, suggesting that
affiliation is a more
useful concept.
Jeffrey Hadden summarizes a lecture entitled "Why Do People Join
NRMs?" (a lecture in a series related to the sociology of new
religious movements, a term Hadden uses to include both cults and
sects) as follows:
- Belonging to groups is a natural human activity;
- People belong to religious groups for essentially the same
reasons they belong to other groups;
- Conversion is generally understood as an emotionally charged
experience that leads to a dramatic reorganization of the convert's
life;
- Conversion varies enormously in terms of the intensity of the
experience and the degree to which it actually alters the life of
the convert;
- Conversion is one, but not the only reason people join
religious groups;
- Social scientists have offered a number of theories to explain
why people join religious groups;
- Most of these explanations could apply equally well to explain
why people join lots of other kinds of groups;
- No one theory can explain all joinings or conversions;
- What all of these theories have in common is the view that
joining or converting is a natural process.
Leaving
There are at least three ways people leave an NRM: 1) by one's own
decision, 2) through expulsion and 3) or through intervention
(
Exit counseling,
deprogramming).
According to Eileen Barker, the greatest worry of potential harm
concerns the central and most dedicated followers of a new
religious movement. Barker mentions that some former members may
not take new initiatives for quite a long time after disaffiliation
from the NRM. This generally does not concern the many superficial,
short-lived, or peripheral supporters of an NRM.
According to Barret leaving can be difficult for some members and
may include
psychological
trauma. Reasons for this trauma may include:
conditioning by the religious movement;
avoidance of uncertainties about life and its meaning; having had
powerful religious experiences; love for the founder of the
religion; emotional investment; fear of losing
salvation; bonding with other members;
anticipation of the realization that time, money, and efforts
donated to the group were a waste; and the new freedom with its
corresponding responsibilities, especially for people who lived in
a community. Those reasons may prevent a member from leaving even
if the member realizes that some things in the NRM are wrong
According to Kranenborg, in some religious groups, members have all
their social contacts within the group, which makes disaffection
and disaffiliation very traumatic.
According to F. Derks and J. van der Lans, there is no uniform
"
post-cult trauma" of people
leaving NRMs. While psychological and social problems upon
resignation are not uncommon, their character and intensity are
greatly dependent on the personal history and on the traits of the
ex-member, and on the reasons for and way of resignation.
Sociologists Bromley and Hadden also note a lack of empirical
support for claims by opponents of supposed consequences of having
been a member of an NRM and substantial empirical evidence against
it. These include the fact that the overwhelming proportion of
people who get involved in NRMs leave, most short of two years; the
overwhelming proportion of people who leave of their own volition;
and that two-thirds (67%) felt "wiser for the experience."
Charismatic movements
NRMs based on charismatic leadership often follow the
routinization of
charisma, as described by the German sociologist
Max Weber. In their book
Theory of
Religion,
Rodney Stark and
William Sims Bainbridge
propose that the formation of "cults" can be explained through a
combination of four models:
- The psycho-pathological model – the cult
founder suffers from psychological problems; they develop the cult
in order to resolve these problems for themselves, as a form of
self-therapy
- The entrepreneurial model – the cult founder
acts like an entrepreneur, trying to develop a religion which they
think will be most attractive to potential recruits, often based on
their experiences from previous cults or other religious groups
they have belonged to
- The social model – the cult is formed through
a social implosion, in which cult
members dramatically reduce the intensity of their emotional bonds
with non-cult members, and dramatically increase the intensity of
those bonds with fellow cult members – this emotionally intense
situation naturally encourages the formation of a shared belief
system and rituals
- The normal revelations model – the cult is
formed when the founder chooses to interpret ordinary natural
phenomena as supernatural, such as by ascribing his or her own
creativity in inventing the cult to that of the deity.
NRMs and the media
An article on the categorization of new religious movements in U.S.
print media published by
The Association for the Sociology of
Religion (formerly the American
Catholic Sociological
Society), criticizes the print media for failing to recognize
social-scientific efforts in the area of new religious movements,
and its tendency to use popular or
anti-cultist definitions rather than
social-scientific insight, and asserts that "The failure of the
print media to recognize social-scientific efforts in the area of
religious movement organizations impels us to add yet another
failing mark to the media report card Weiss (1985) has constructed
to assess the media's reporting of the social sciences."
Criticism
Criticism of some new religious movements, a subset of which are
often described by their critics as being "
cults," has been a contentious issue with both sides
sometimes using epithets such as "
hate
group" to describe the other side. Disaffected former members,
stating that they are seeking redress for perceived wrongs or
looking to expose perceived wrongdoings, have, in turn, had their
motives called into question. They have themselves come under
attack for allegedly using methods themselves that have been
characterized as
polemic, hostile, and
verbally or emotionally abusive. Critics, both those who are
ex-members and who aren't, have had their character and credibility
impeached. The
Church of
Scientology, in particular, makes a
practice of investigating its
critics and publicizing any past crimes or wrongdoings.
CESNUR’s president
Massimo Introvigne, writes in his article
"So many evil things: Anti-cult terrorism via the
Internet", that fringe and extreme
anti-cult activism resorts to tactics
that may create a background favorable to extreme manifestations of
discrimination and
hate against individuals that belong to new religious
movements. Critics of CESNUR, however, call Introvigne a
cult apologist who defends
harmful religious groups and cults. Somewhat in concurrence with
Introvigne, professor
Eileen Barker
asserts in an interview that the controversy surrounding certain
new religious movements can turn violent by a process called
deviancy amplification
spiral.
Aspects of the
guru-shishya tradition are
commonly brought forward in disputes related to asserted abuse of
authority by gurus and spiritual teachers of new religious
movements.
In a paper by Anson Shupe and Susan Darnell presented at the 2000
meeting of the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, they
affirm that although the
International Cultic
Studies Association ( ICSA, formerly known as AFF or American
Family Foundation) has presented "slanted, stereotypical images and
language that has inflamed persons to perform extreme actions," the
extent to which the ICSA and other anti-cultist organizations are
hate groups as defined by law or racial/ethnic criteria in
sociology, is open for debate.
The Foundation against Intolerance of Religious Minorities,
associated with the
Adidam NRM, sees the use
of terms "cult" and "cult leader" be used in a deliberately
provocative manner.
See also
References
- Coney, J. (1998) “A response to Religious Liberty in Western
Europe by Massimo Introvigne” ISKON Communications Journal,
5(2)
- The Oxford Handbook of New Religious Movements, (Oxford
University Press, 2008) 17
- Paul J. Olson, The Public Perception of “Cults” and “New
Religious Movements” Journal for the Scientific Study of
Religion; Mar2006, Vol. 45 Issue 1, 97-106
- The Oxford Handbook of New Religious Movements, (Oxford
University Press, 2008) 4
- Langone, Michael D. Secular and Religious Critiques of Cults:
Complementary Visions, Not Irresolvable Conflicts, Retrieved 22
November 2006.
- Paul J. Olson, The Public Perception of “Cults” and “New
Religious Movements” Journal for the Scientific Study of
Religion; Mar2006, Vol. 45 Issue 1, 97-106
- Ibid. Religion in the Modern World, p. 270, Retrieved
22 November 2006.
- Encyclopaedia Britannica Online Academic Edition, New
Religious Movements
- Paul J. Olson, Public Perception of “Cults” and “New
Religious Movements”, Journal for the Scientific Study of
Religion, 2006, 45 (1): 97-106
- Galanter, Marc (Editor), (1989), Cults and new religious
movements: a report of the committee on psychiatry and religion of
the American Psychiatric
Association, ISBN 0-89042-212-5
- Bader, Chris & A. Demaris, A test of the
Stark-Bainbridge theory of affiliation with religious cults and
sects. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 35,
285-303. (1996)
- University of Virginia Library
- Hadden, Jeffrey K. SOC 257: New Religious Movements
Lectures, University of Virginia, Department of
Sociology.
- Duhaime, Jean (Université de Montréal),
Les Témoigagnes de Convertis et d'ex-Adeptes (English:
The testimonies of converts and former followers, an
article which appeared in the book New Religions in a
Postmodern World edited by Mikael Rothstein and Reender
Kranenborg, RENNER Studies in New religions, Aarhus University
press, 2003, ISBN 87-7288-748-6
- Giambalvo, Carol, Post-cult
problems
- Barker,
E. The Ones Who Got Away: People Who Attend Unification
Church Workshops and Do Not Become Moonies. In: Barker E, ed.
Of Gods and Men: New Religious Movements in the West.
Macon, Ga. : Mercer University Press; 1983. ISBN 0-86554-095-0
- Galanter M. Unification Church ('Moonie') dropouts:
psychological readjustment after leaving a charismatic religious
group, American Journal of Psychiatry.
1983;140(8):984-989
- Kranenborg, Reender Dr. (Dutch language) Sekten...
gevaarlijk of niet?/Cults... dangerous or not? published in
the magazine Religieuze bewegingen in Nederland/Religious
movements in the Netherlands nr. 31 Sekten II by the
Free
university Amsterdam (1996) ISSN 0169-7374 ISBN
90-5383-426-5
- F. Derks and the professor of psychology
of religion Jan van der Lans The post-cult
syndrome: Fact or Fiction?, paper presented at conference of
Psychologists of Religion, Catholic University Nijmegen,
1981, also appeared in Dutch language as Post-cult-syndroom;
feit of fictie?, published in the magazine Religieuze
bewegingen in Nederland/Religious movements in the Netherlands
nr. 6 pages 58-75 published by the Free university
Amsterdam (1983)
- Hadden, J and Bromley, D eds. (1993), The Handbook of Cults
and Sects in America. Greenwich, CT: JAI Press, Inc., pp.
75-97.
- van Driel, Barend and James T. Richardson. Research Note
Categorization of New Religious Movements in American Print
Media. Sociological Analysis 1988, 49, 2:171-183
- CNN - Group that once criticized Scientologists now
owned by one - Dec. 19, 1996
- Tampabay: Scientology foe moves in, digs in for a
long fight
- Introvigne, Massimo, "So Many Evil Things": Anti-Cult Terrorism via the
Internet, Retrieved 22 November 2006.
- Barker, Eileen, Introducing New Religious Movements, Retrieved
22 November 2006.
- The
Foundation against Intolerance of Religious Minorities,
Retrieved 22 November 2006.
Further reading
- Barrett, David B., George T. Kurian, and Todd M. Johnson,
World Christian Encyclopedia: A Comparative Survey of Churches
and Religions in the Modern World, 2 vols. 2nd edition, Oxford
& New York: Oxford University Press, 2001.
- Hexham, Irving and Karla Poewe, New Religions as Global
Cultures, Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press, 1997.
- Hexham, Irving, Stephen Rost & John W. Morehead (eds)
Encountering New Religious Movements: A Holistic Evangelical
Approach, Grand Rapids: Kregel Publications, 2004.
- Kranenborg, Reender (Dutch language) Een nieuw licht op de
kerk?: Bijdragen van nieuwe religieuze bewegingen voor de kerk van
vandaag/A new perspective on the church: Contributions by NRMs for
today's church Published by het Boekencentrum, (a Christian publishing
house), the Hague, 1984. ISBN 90-239-0809-0.
- Stark, Rodney (ed) Religious Movements: Genesis, Exodus,
Numbers, New York: Paragon House, 1985.
- Arweck, Elisabeth and Peter
B. Clarke, New Religious Movements in Western Europe:
An Annotated Bibliography, Westport & London: Greenwood
Press, 1997.
- Barker, Eileen New religious movements: a practical
introduction London, Her Majesty's Stationery Office,
1989.
- Barker, Eileen and Margit Warburg (eds) New Religions and
New Religiosity, Aarhus, Denmark: Aargus University Press,
1998.
- Beckford, James A. (ed) New Religious Movements and Rapid
Social Change, Paris: UNESCO/London, Beverly Hills & New
Delhi: SAGE Publications, 1986.
- Chryssides, George D., Exploring New Religions, London
& New York: Cassell, 1999.
- Clarke, Peter B. (ed.), Encyclopedia of New
Religious Movements, London & New York: Routledge,
2006.
- Davis, Derek H., and Barry Hankins (eds) New Religious
Movements and Religious Liberty in America, Waco: J. M. Dawson
Institute of Church-State Studies and Baylor University Press,
2002.
- Jenkins, Philip, Mystics and Messiahs: Cults and New
Religions in American History, New York: Oxford University
Press, 2000.
- Kohn, Rachael, The New Believers: Re-Imagining God,
Sydney: Harper Collins, 2003.
- Loeliger, Carl and Garry Trompf (eds) New Religious
Movements in Melanesia, Suva, Fiji: University of the South
Pacific & University of Papua New Guinea, 1985.
- Meldgaard, Helle and Johannes Aagaard (eds) New Religious
Movements in Europe, Aarhus, Denmark: Aarhus University Press,
1997.
- Needleman, Jacob and George Baker (eds) Understanding the
New Religions, New York: Seabury Press, 1981.
- Partridge, Christopher (ed) Encyclopedia of New Religions:
New Religious Movements, Sects and Alternative Spiritualities,
Oxford: Lion, 2004.
- Possamai, Adam, Religion and Popular Culture: A Hyper-Real
Testament, Brussels: P. I. E. - Peter Lang, 2005.
- Saliba, John A., Understanding New Religious
Movements, 2nd edition, Walnut Creek, Lanham: Alta Mira Press,
2003.
- Thursby, Gene. "Siddha Yoga: Swami Muktanada and the Seat of
Power." When Prophets Die: The Postcharismatic Fate Of New
Religious Movements. Albany: State University of New York Press,
1991 pp. 165–182.
- Towler, Robert (ed) New Religions and the New Europe,
Aarhus, Denmark: Aarhus University Press, 1995.
- Trompf, G. W. (ed) Cargo Cults and Millenarian Movements:
Transoceanic Comparisons of New Religious Movements, Berlin
& New York: Mouton de Gruyter, 1990.
- Wilson, Bryan and Jamie Cresswell (eds) New Religious
Movements: Challenge and Response, London & New York:
Routledge, 1999.
External links
Wikis
Quiz
Facts
Map
Search
